Bulthaup is a German company founded in 1949 with its headquarters situated in Aich, Bodenkirchen, near Landshut in lower Bavaria. This manufacturer has a workforce of over 500 people and earns a revenue of around 120 million euros. 80% of this income comes from exports.
The company is named after its founder Martin Bulthaup who hails from the Westphalia region of Germany. He came up with this company in 1949 after the second world war and called it Martin Bulthaup Möbelfabrik.
In 1951, he bought a sawmill near the company's headquarters, where he started producing new and modern kitchen furniture. The mill started operating on 1st May 1951 with a team of 7 women and men. They began by making a sideboard that had hand-sewn curtains.
Even in the 1960s, this company was among the leading kitchen manufacturers. They worked on niches that others ignored and made tremendous sales within and out of Germany. Martin Bulthaup In 1963, established a factory in Bodenkirchen. Its Stil 75 line of products was launched in 1969. Towards the beginning of the 1970s, Bulthaup was among the leading five kitchen manufacturers in Germany and made a revenue of more than 100 million Deutsche Marks (which was the official currency then).
Since 1973, the European Economic Community brought Bulthaup on board, and the company started its products to members of this association. Bulthaup had to come up with new facilities to meet the exceeding demand for their products.
Martin Bulthaup passed on in 1978, and his son Gerd Bulthaup took over the company. Gerd established a facility in Aich to increase production. This brought together various corporate functions and business departments. Gerd was ambitious and wanted to grow the business. He, therefore, decided to join hands with the designer Otl Aicher who was then the Summer Olympics design commissioner. This collaboration took place in 1980. Since Otl Aicher's design ideas mainly focused on Ulm School of Design's principles, most Bulthaup designs were based on these principles after the contract. Many more developments were made in the 1990s, making products even more reputable and reliable.
After several years of successfully serving Bulthaup and overseeing its operations, Gerd stepped down from heading the company. Some external managers took the wheel after him, but the family later took over in the leadership of Marc O. Eckert.
In 2004 the German consumer magazine tested the adhesives and materials of Bulthaup and confirmed that they were safe for health.
Currently, Bulthaup has over 500 partners worldwide. They also have subsidiaries in the United States, the Netherlands, the UK, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain.
Bulthaup has a wide range of quality kitchen products and has won many awards for being one of the top kitchen brands in Germany and the whole world.